thegreatmodel8.remingtonsociety.com

Could a fellow simply swap a .30 Remington barrel assembly for a .300 Savage and be safe to shoot or is that just insane?

Sir, It isn't that easy. And yes, 30 rem to 300 savage is insane. Every spring in the model 8/81 s is fitted to the correct caliber and task that it must perform. Remember that JMB designed this rifle as a parallel design with the Auto-5 shotgun in about 1900. Things such as caliber interchange, didn't even enter the mind of the inventor. Or if it did, it was way down the line in his priority list. His design was for 35 remington,which he designed himself. It was the the people at Remington who, probably wouldn't design something that wasn't safe. I have taken apart just about every model 8/81 that I own. I'm sure that some of the springs may be the same. But some are obviously different. Don't enter into this without doing some real world research.
Roger

That's about what I figured.....

Thanks for the reply and this will end that approach for me. The search for another .300 Savage will continue!

Roger had the right answers about springs being unique to each of the 8/81 cartridge groups - the .25/.30/.32 should have a "shared" recoil and buffer spring set, as would the .35 and the .300. That part is not hard to manipulate - in other words, if you have the proper .300 springs, that is the first step.

Second step is more spendy - the need for a dedicated .300 bolt and extractor since from what I've read here, the .300 bolt face is a unique measurement compared to the .35. Again, this is a non-issue for the .25/.30/.32 family which can share the same bolt.

You would be able to do such a swap, earlier Model 8 or later Model 81 into a .300 physically with the correct .300 bolt assembly and spring set. It would be up to you whether you wanted to subject your older 8 to the beating of .300, and I have ZERO experience with such an endeavor, but I don't understand that there is any metallurgical "improvement" or steel strengthening to the 81's in .300.

In other words, there shouldn't be any reason it would hurt the receiver any more or less than an 81 chambered in .300 from the get-go. My opinion!

(yes, DrBecker on GB has that parkerized .300 front half on perpetual sale! I know!)

Adam

I think the 25 has it's own set of recoil/buffer springs. The ones I've examined are considerably lighter than a 30/32, which appear to be the same as a 35. The 30/32 is a lot closer to the recoil inertia of a 35, than the 25 is to the 30/32.

I would agree with curdog on the 25. I have even found wood spacers in the 25.

Regards,

jack1653

Hey guys,
I agree with Jack and curdog about the 25 Cal. Springs. They are different. However I don't believe that the 35 Cal. Springs are the same as the30/32 Cal. springs. I'm only going by my own experience though,and assuming anything when it comes to old guns can be a mistake.
Thanks for your time,
Roger

I have taken recoil/buffer springs from a 35, and put them in a 32, and they function fine. If they look and function the same, this would lead me to believe they are the same.